New video! Architecture + History in Berlin's Humboldt Forum
Here it is: my newest video! This time you’ll get an unusual look into the huge new Humboldt Forum in Berlin.
This building houses numerous museum exhibitions, but the one I want to show you is much less well-known than the others. It’s the History of the Site, a self-guided tour around the hallways and even the basement of the Humboldt Forum! Unusual spaces for an exhibition, but perfect for showing the archaeological traces of the previous buildings that stood on this same site.
Basements are great for learning about building histories because they’re safe underground. That means that even if the above-ground building gets destroyed – as happened multiple times at the Humboldt Forum site! – the underground remains stay safely preserved.
At the Humboldt Forum, you can see remains of buildings from three distinct previous periods:
- Monastery and church (medieval period)
- City palace (15th to 20th century)
- Palace of the Republic (1973-2008)
These remains tell us about the highly varied, lively, and often unexpected activites that took place outside the limelight at this central, prestigious location. While above ground ceremonies were celebrated, underground labor is what made it all possible. That makes these remains valuable evidence for the non-elite, NORMAL life that was whirring away underground.
Have fun watching the video on YouTube! And please remember to like, share and subscribe if you haven’t already. It really helps me to reach more people with every new video. Thank you!!
